The conflict raging in Gaza is different this time .

While Hamas ' rocket attacks and Israel 's military actions may look familiar , they 're taking place against a whole new backdrop .

`` This is unprecedented in the history of the Arab-Israeli conflict , '' says CNN 's Ali Younes , an analyst who has covered the region for decades . `` Most Arab states are actively supporting Israel against the Palestinians -- and not even shy about it or doing it discreetly . ''

It 's a `` joint Arab-Israeli war consisting of Egypt , Jordan , Saudi Arabia against other Arabs -- the Palestinians as represented by Hamas . ''

As the New York Times put it , `` Arab leaders , viewing Hamas as worse than Israel , stay silent . ''

One of the outcomes of the fighting will likely be `` the end of the old Arab alliance system that has , even nominally , supported the Palestinians and their goal of establishing a Palestinian state , '' Younes says .

`` The Israel-Hamas conflict has laid bare the new divides of the Middle East , '' says Danielle Pletka , vice president of foreign and defense policy studies at the American Enterprise Institute . `` It 's no longer the Muslims against the Jews . Now it 's the extremists -- the Muslim Brotherhood , Hamas , Hezbollah , and their backers Iran , Qatar and Turkey -- against Israel and the more moderate Muslims including Jordan , Egypt , and Saudi Arabia . ''

`` It 's a proxy war for control or dominance in the Middle East , '' says CNN 's Fareed Zakaria .

To understand why and what all this means , we need to begin with understanding of Hamas .

Hamas and the Muslim Brotherhood

Hamas , which has controlled the Palestinian government in Gaza for years , is an extension of the Muslim Brotherhood . To many Americans , the brotherhood is familiar for its central role in the power struggle for Egypt . But it 's much larger than that .

`` The Muslim Brotherhood is international , with affiliated groups in more than 70 countries , including Saudi Arabia and the UAE , '' says Eric Trager of the Washington Institute for Near East Policy .

The Arab Spring showed the region that uprisings can lead to the Brotherhood gaining power . So it 's a threat to the governments it opposes .

`` Israel 's ongoing battle against Hamas is part of a wider regional war on the Muslim Brotherhood , '' says the Soufan Group , which tracks global security . `` Most Arab states share Israel 's determination to finish the movement off once and for all , but they are unlikely to be successful . ''

`` From the perspective of Egypt , Saudi Arabia , Jordan , the UAE and some other Arab states , what the Israeli Prime Minister is doing is fighting this war against Hamas on their behalf so they can finish the last stronghold of the Muslim Brotherhood , '' Younes says .

`` Arab governments and official Arab media have all but adopted the Israeli view of who is a terrorist and who is not . Egyptian and Saudi-owned media are liberal in labeling the Muslim Brotherhood as ` terrorists ' and describing Hamas as a ` terrorist organization . ' It 's a complete turnabout from the past , when Arab states fought Israel and the U.S. in the international organizations on the definition of terrorism , and who is a terrorist or a ` freedom fighter . ' ''

Egypt

Egypt 's new President vowed during his campaign that he would finish off the Muslim Brotherhood . Abdel Fattah el-Sisi , the former military chief , deposed Egypt 's first freely elected leader , President Mohamed Morsy of the Muslim Brotherhood , last year following mass protests against Morsy 's rule .

El-Sisi was elected officially in June .

`` In Egypt you have a regime that came to power by toppling a Muslim Brotherhood government , '' says Trager . `` It 's therefore in an existential conflict with the Brotherhood . So it does n't want to see Hamas , the Palestinian Muslim Brotherhood , emerge stronger in a neighboring territory . ''

Egypt also has another reason to stand against Hamas : rising violence and instability in Sinai , the northern part of Egypt that borders Israel and Gaza . Hamas ' network of tunnels includes some in and out of Egypt used to smuggle goods include weapons for attackson Israeli civilians .

The new Egyptian government has been `` cracking down aggressively since it removed the brotherhood from power , '' Trager says .

El-Sisi closed the border crossings between Egypt and Gaza , which has helped block Hamas militants from escaping or smuggling in more weapons during Israel 's onslaught . But it also has contributed to the humanitarian crisis of people trapped in Gaza .

Egypt proposed a cease-fire , and Israel quickly accepted it -- indicating that it contained the terms Israel was looking for , analysts say . Hamas rejected it . While Egypt has worked furiously to try to broker a truce in the past , Cairo this time shows little rush to change its proposal to one much more favorable to Hamas , analysts say .

Saudi Arabia , UAE , Jordan

The monarchies of Saudi Arabia , the United Arab Emirates and Jordan have called on Hamas to accept the cease-fire proposal as is .

`` We condemn the Israeli aggression and we support the Egyptian cease-fire proposal , '' Jordan 's King Abdullah said last week .

Countries such as Saudi Arabia and the UAE are `` challenged by Islamists who come to power via the ballot box rather than through royal succession , '' says Trager .

`` So these countries have been directly supportive of the coup in Egypt because it removed elected Islamists and therefore discredited that model . ''

Saudi Arabia is `` leading the charge , '' partly through backing the coup and financing state media reports that attacked the brotherhood , says Younes .

`` Egypt , Jordan , Saudi Arabia and the UAE all see the destruction of Hamas as of benefit to their internal security as well as to regional stability . ''

`` The Saudis and the Egyptians are now more scared of Islamic fundamentalism than they are of Israel , '' says Zakaria .

`` The Saudi monarchy is more worried about the prospects of Hamas winning , which would embolden Islamists in other parts of the Middle East , and therefore potentially an Islamist opposition in Saudi Arabia . ''

But Hamas is not alone .

Turkey and Qatar

Turkey and Qatar remain supportive of Hamas .

Qatar supported Egypt 's Muslim Brotherhood government , and built `` an Egypt-centric Al Jazeera network that became known for its strongly pro-Muslim Brotherhood line , '' says Trager .

Qatar also funds many Muslim Brotherhood figures in exile , including Hamas political leader Khaled Mashaal , who is believed to have orchestrated numerous Hamas terrorist attacks .

`` I think this is a case of a country with a lot of money to burn making a certain calculation in 2011 that made a lot of sense at the time : that the Brotherhood was the next big thing that was going to dominate many of the countries of the region , '' says Trager . `` Realistically , it made sense to bet on it . ''

Turkey has `` more of an ideological sympathy with the Brotherhood , '' he says .

Last week , Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan spoke with CNN , accusing Israel of `` genocide . ''

`` Erdogan has tried to use the cause of the Brotherhood to bolster his own Islamist credentials at home , '' says Trager . Last year , Erdogan cracked down on mass demonstrations in his country .

Iran and Syria

Iran has long supported Hamas , supplying it with weapons . And Meshaal used to be based in Syria .

But that changed . In 2012 , Meshaal left Syria as the country 's civil war deepened -- a decision believed to have caused a breakdown in his relationship with Iran as well , says Firas Abi Ali , head of Middle East and North Africa Country Risk and Forecasting at the global information company IHS . Tehran is aligned with Syrian President Bashar al-Assad 's regime .

Now , Syria -- Israel 's neighbor to the north -- is locked in a brutal , multiparty civil war , with Islamist extremists hoisting severed heads onto poles . The war , believed to have killed more than 115,000 people , is just one of the many developments emphasizing how many `` fault lines '' there are in the region , Richard Haass , president of Council on Foreign Relations , told `` CNN Tonight . ''

`` There 's fault lines within the Palestinians between Hamas and the other part of the Palestinian Authority . You have Sunnis vs. Shia . You have Iran vs. Saudi Arabia and the Arabs . You have secularists vs. people who embrace religion in the political space . ''

The Palestinian Authority

Paying a price for all this is another key player : Fatah , the Palestinian faction that controls the West Bank . Fatah and Hamas have long fought each other , but earlier this year made another effort at a unity government .

Palestinian leader Mahmoud Abbas , who is in charge of the government in the West Bank , `` seems politically exhausted by all the twists and turns he has made in search of a durable solution , '' the Soufan Gruop says . `` And the one chance of reasserting his authority through a unity government that would have forced Hamas into a subordinate and less militant role has now disappeared . He must now watch helplessly as protests in the West Bank undo whatever progress he had made towards a two-state solution . ''

Gaza conflict by the numbers

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The Gaza conflict is a proxy war for the Middle East , analysts say

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Egypt , Jordan , and Saudi Arabia are seen as supporting Israel 's crackdown on Hamas

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Turkey and Qatar support Hamas

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Hamas is an extension of the Muslim Brotherhood , which threatens some governments